Friday, February 26, 2010

Thousands of people pass by this building in Ann St (near Brunswick St), Fortitude Valley each day, and most of us don't give it a second thought, even though it is one of Brisbane's older buildings. "Established AD 1862" proclaims the text at the top of the building, "Apothecaries Hall". Here is a picture of the building from 1990, when it seems that it was looking for a tenant.

I had a vague idea of what an apothecary was - an early version of a chemist or pharmacist. A dictionary tells me that in England they were able to prescribe medicine, and that may well have been the case in Brisbane in the very early days of the colony. Referring to the Brisbane History Group's publication, Sites of Separation, I found that the building was constructed for Mr Moses Ward who arrived in Brisbane from Devonshire in 1862. Ward was a multi-faceted fellow: he was an importer of drugs and surgical implements, a chemist, a dentist and also somewhat of an entrepreneur. An advertisement in The Courier, Brisbane's newspaper, provides illustration of his talents. The column on the LHS of the page provides an English translation of the OCR results :-) Click for a larger view.(Excerpt from the Brisbane Courier, 15 September 1863)

"Elastic Stockings, Knee Caps, Enema and other syringes, Trusses, and Surgical Appliances always on hand. Dental Operations performed with Instruments of the most Modern invention." And, if all of those medical marvels fail to entice you onto the premises: "Licensed to sell postage stamps."

Ward's practice thrived, but as we shall see in a later post, a fall was yet to come. After selling Apothecaries Hall in 1875, he moved to a Gailey-designed Queen St premises. In 1882, he bought Bowen House, which had been the first Government House, and renamed it Adelaide House. That residence is now The Deanery at St John's Cathedral.

The next time you are travelling up Ann St, look out for Apothecaries Hall on the RHS just before the Brunswick St mall.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Back in the days when there seemed to be a hotel on every Brisbane CBD corner and one or two in between, the one that stood on the corner of Queen and Adelaide Sts at Petrie Bight was the magnificent National Hotel. An impressive sight that by the late sixties had sophisticated cocktail bars and restaurants, this hotel became infamous in the Royal Commission into prostitution and police corruption that commenced in 1963. It bobbed up again in the Fitzgerald Inquiry into corruption of the late eighties. (Photo: State Library of Queensland and John Oxley Library; #APO-002-0001-0005)

(Photo: State Library of Queensland and John Oxley Library; #22309)

Above (top) is the National Hotel with the Customs House in the background, and a more direct view (bottom), both pictures from around 1890. Below are later photos of the hotel in 1939 and 1972.(Photo: State Library of Queensland and John Oxley Library; #78353)(Photo: NLA; #nla.pic-vn4361600, Bruce Howard)

At the time that I first remember the National, in the late sixties, there was an extremely popular cocktail bar called "Warren's Bar" which was quite the risque venue because of the eponymous cocktail barman Warren. Warren was very theatrically flamboyant, with a witty repartee of suitable double entendres - behaviour that would perhaps now be described as "camp". Brisbane at that time was not a very worldly city, and looking back on the environment now, it is hard not to wonder at the cruel jibes that would have been heaped on Warren. I hope he survived it all. I found the following work portraying Warren by artist David Collins at the Bett Gallery in Hobart.("Warren: The National Hotel (Brisbane)" 2009 by David Collins. Reproduced by kind permission of David Collins and Bett Gallery, Hobart)

In my recent photograph (above) Customs House with its copper dome can be seen in the background, now dwarfed by the large building behind it. On the RHS of the picture, the hotel has gone, replaced by another large office tower which has a coffee shop on the ground floor. These days, there is a coffee shop on every corner of the CBD, often with one or two in between. I suppose that it's one way of humanising glass towers.

Friday, February 19, 2010

What do Drew Barrymore and Brisbane's Festival Hall have in common? Well, not much really - it's a tenuous link at best. Barrymore has recently directed her first movie, and it is called "Whip It", sounding vaguely like a bondage piece, when it is in fact about the "Roller Derby". Festival Hall (RIP - it has been "redeveloped" too) was the host of roller derby games in Brisbane back in the day. You don't remember the roller derby? It is sort of like football, but the players wear roller skates and chase each other round an oval track. I'm sure that if you go and see the film you'll catch on pretty quickly. Festival Hall was Brisbane's multi-purpose entertainment venue of yesteryear. Situated on the corner of Albert St and Charlotte St, this is what it looked like in 1959.(Photo: State Library of Queensland and John Oxley Library; #79168)

The close-up (above) is of one-time Brisbane boy and long-time entertainer Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees. Judging by the haircut, it dates from back before he started to sing falsetto.Click here for a Google Map.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Only four kilometres from the CBD and easily accessible by boat up the river, Toowong was one of the first villages to be established outside Brisbane. An early settler in the area, Richard Drew, first proclaimed Toowong as the name of the village around 1862 - it was named after the call of a local bird. By 1865, settlers in Toowong decided that they needed a church, and they raised £150 to construct a Church of England. The aforementioned Richard Drew donated some land in Curlew St (on the other side of Moggill Rd to the current building) and the first church and school were built there, being completed in 1866. At that time, the church formed part of the Brisbane parish of All Saints' Church. (Photo: State Library of Queensland and John Oxley Library; #93380)

The church today (above) can still be found at the intersection of High St and Jephson St at the start of Moggill Rd. The gardens have grown, preventing a photograph from High St as the original was taken, so I have adjusted the angle slightly.

Monday, February 15, 2010

The scene in the photograph below shows people lining the streets at the intersection of Queen St and Adelaide St at Petrie Bight. It was taken in 1954, when the citizens of Brisbane were lining up for a look at the new queen, Elizabeth II. However, what we are interested in today is the building in the centre rear of the picture, below St John's Cathedral. "Castlemaine Perkins Limited" it says, in big letters along the side. They are were the makers of Queensland's popular XXXX beer, and this was their head office. (Queensland's iconic beer has had a slew of owners in the last few years - the rot started when Alan Bond bought it, then it went to Lion Nathan, who have now been taken over by Japanese brewing giant Kirin. My father, a WWII digger who fought the Japanese in New Guinea and was very partial to his XXXX, would surely not understand this new world order.)(Photo: State Library of Queensland and John Oxley Library; #129007) 1954

Castlemaine Perkins sold the building in 1985, but the handsome building remains occupied by a leading architectural firm, and my photograph (above) shows how it looks today. The date at the top of the building (1871) refers to the origins of the Castlemaine Perkins brewing business.

Friday, February 12, 2010

One of the disadvantages of building on hilly terrain is that the need often arises for the construction of retaining walls. Just ask me - in two houses at The Gap, we had various retaining walls constructed from boulders, brick, stone, railway sleeper and treated log. I don't know whether the retaining wall in my picture above is Brisbane's oldest, but it was built in 1881-2 to assist with the levelling of Queen St near the Customs House.

I remember the area on the river side of this wall being a wharf, and when that use was discontinued, it was one of Brisbane's open-air car parks (obviously in an era when driving into the city wasn't being actively discouraged). Continued development along the river and the arrival of restaurants and hotels to the area have seen the former wharf and car-park transformed into landscaped terraces to allow access to the river from Queen St. If you walk along Queen St between the Customs House and the Marriott Hotel, you can walk down steps to view this old retaining wall which is still in quite good condition.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

It has been mentioned in these pages before that I am a cricket lover, having been raised on the sport. This post is about infamy in cricket and in government. In the days when he led the Queensland government, Joh Bjelke-Petersen was a self-proclaimed "pro-development" Premier. He knew the state was doing well, he used to say, when he looked out of his Parliament House window and saw the CBD skyline filled with builders' cranes. Development in those days was rather crude. Little or no relevance was accorded to historical or architecturally-significant buildings; if a developer put a half-reasonable proposition forward, the existing building could be demolished in an instant to allow the new one to emerge indecently from the rubble. Those days are now thankfully behind us, because Queenslanders finally realised that they had had enough of their heritage being smashed right before their eyes. The two most potent symbols of this demolition derby of destruction were Cloudland and the Bellevue Hotel. The Bellevue was on the corner of George and Alice Streets, across the road from Parliament House, and this is the way it looked in 1903. Part of the fence surrounding Parliament House can be seen in the left foreground.

(Photo: State Library of Queensland and John Oxley Library; #7717)

The hotel was built in 1885-6, and a feature of it was the beautiful filigree cast-iron work on the verandahs, which can be seen more clearly below, in an image from 1940. A glimpse of Parliament House can be seen in the background (click photo to see in a larger form).

(Photo: State Library of Queensland and John Oxley Library; #126833)

The Bellevue in its prime was the place to stay for wealthy visitors to Brisbane. Favoured by politicians, graziers, actors and sportsmen, it oozed opulence. A newspaper report from 1886 waxes lyrical about the hot water tap in every room, as well as the electric bell for summoning staff, not to mention the two lifts - one to send luggage to the upper floors and one for food. Below is an advertisement for the hotel that proudly proclaims that "the English team are staying at the Bellevue Hotel". This is reportedly from 1933 (I expected grammar to have been better back then!), and although it doesn't indicate the sport, I believe that the team in question was the England cricket team led by Douglas Jardine in the infamous Bodyline series. The fourth test in that series was played in Brisbane, commencing on this day seventy-seven years ago - on 10 February 1933, and won rather easily by England.

(Photo: State Library of Queensland and John Oxley Library; #74141)

The English players may not have welcomed the publication of their venue, because by the time the team reached here they were being pilloried by the Australian public and press as a result of the "leg-theory" tactics adopted by Jardine and executed with such perfection by his express-paced opening bowler, Harold Larwood.But Jardine's cold-hearted and bully-boy actions on the cricket field paled into insignificance when compared to those later committed by the Bjelke-Petersen government, which had acquired the Bellevue Hotel site in 1967 because it wanted to erect government offices there. This was not endorsed by public opinion, but against that feeling the government proceeded with its plans. Just recently, cabinet documents from 1979 were released to public view, and they indicated that the Bellevue was worth preserving. However, the government bean-counters worked out that it would be far cheaper to trash it. Demolition bovver-boys the Deen Bros were engaged to knock down the Bellevue, and this was done in the middle of the night on 20 April 1979. Here's a photo of it in its death throes - I can't help but think of it being on a par with harpooning a whale, such is the emotion even today.(Photo: Brisbane - Our Town; Helen Dash. UQ Press)

Monday, February 8, 2010

We have previously looked at the Albert St Uniting Church. The parish itself is one of the oldest in Brisbane, having kicked off in 1849 as the Albert St Wesleyan Church, situated then on Albert St between Adelaide St and Burnett Lane. The initial small church hall only seated 150 people, so it was rebuilt on the same site in 1855, this time facing Adelaide St instead of Albert St. Here is a photograph of that building from around 1883.(Photo: State Library of Queensland and John Oxley Library; #56618)

This second church was much larger than the original, having room for 500 worshippers. It had large Gothic windows at each end, together with further windows down each side. The church was opened in December 1856, and was sold when the church moved to the current building on the corner of Albert and Ann Sts some thirty years later. The Albert St/Burnett Lane site was later to become the home of a branch of the Commonwealth Bank, shown below in 1954 when it was kitted out for the royal visit.

Naturally enough, this area was extremely important in Brisbane's early days when the port was vital, as it brought people and supplies to the new colony. This was also the site of Brisbane's early fruit and vegetable markets, which from 1867 through until 1881, extended down to around the current Mary St and Market St intersection. Larger markets were subsequently built at Roma St to take advantage of the railway line.

(Photo: State Library of Queensland and John Oxley Library; #151607)

The photo above was taken at Eagle St during Brisbane's monster flood of 1893, and shows riverside buildings completely inundated with water, while several sailing ships are anchored at the wharf.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

A ten-minute walk from my place gets me to New Farm Park, on the Brisbane River at the end of Brunswick St, and one of the city's more scenic places of relaxation. It wasn't always so - before European settlement, the local Turrbal people used it extensively as a food source. The swampy terrain was home to the tortoise that they hunted with some relish. It then became a place for the European settlers to grow their food, as Captain Logan ordered it to be cleared as the "new farm" (in addition to the existing farms at the Botanical Gardens and South Brisbane) for the settlement of Brisbane. Convict labour was used to grow maize and vegetables needed for the penal outpost.Some years later, the land would be sub-divided for smaller tenant farms.

Then land-holder and solicitor Thomas Adams leased his holdings to the Moreton Bay Jockey Club, and the annual races moved from the outlying area of Coopers Plains into the suburb now known as New Farm. Race-goers could attend by travelling down the river from Brisbane by boat. Racing subsequently moved to Eagle Farm in 1865, and the area surrounding the old race track was ear-marked for housing. Proximity to the city and then the electric tramway system's extension down Brunswick St saw some of Brisbane's most prominent citizens build houses in the area. After some activism from locals seeking the establishment of a recreation reserve, Brisbane City Council acquired the land that had been the old race track, and New Farm Park was established in 1914. From the outset, the Council saw to beautification of the park with extensive landscaping and planting, and the park's position on the bank of the Brisbane River enhanced its drawing power. Picnickers could frequently watch boats of all sizes pass by (below, top), and that also holds true today - although the boats are more likely to be powered by motor rather than sail (below, bottom). (Photo: State Library of Queensland and John Oxley Library; #7708-0001-0026)

The fifteen hectares of parkland on the river soon became a hit with locals, and the Council extended its use by creating a cricket pitch and other sporting facilities. In addition to extensive rose beds, poinsettias and jacarandas were also planted; and a kiosk and bandstand were erected in 1915. The following colour image from around 1950 shows people wandering amongst the jacarandas and enjoying the park for picnics. That's the kiosk in the background. (Photo: State Library of Queensland and John Oxley Library; #lbp00043)

Monday, February 1, 2010

One property of the extensive portfolio owned by Dr James Mayne and his sister Mary was the land in Queen St on which, in 1929, Brisbane's Regent Theatre was constructed. Designed as a "picture palace" in the American fashion, and able to host live theatre as well as movies, the Regent opened on 8 November 1929. It was one of four Regent Theatres built in Australia during the 1920s, and featured a 2,500 seat auditorium (one of the largest in the country) complete with orchestra pit, organ, VIP boxes and chandeliers. Here is what it looked like, when photographed in 1955. (Photo: State Library of Queensland and John Oxley Library; #135073)

The opulence was also apparent in the foyer, which boasted gilded walls, a marble staircase and murals in the arched ceiling.(Photo: State Library of Queensland and John Oxley Library; #195537)

Whenever I came here as a child, it was like entering another world. The ornate surroundings were indeed like a palace, and they were a portal through which you could enter the magic of cinema. Of course, there were other, more tangible treats available at the sumptuous milk bar, too. (Photo: State Library of Queensland and John Oxley Library; #65247)